While some claim global warming to be a fact, I can’t help notice that there are some very notable scientists with a profoundly heterodox points of view. And now Harold Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara–who can’t be defined in an way as “anti science” (that great, all purpose, debate stifling epithet)–has made international news and blog headlines by quitting the American Physical Society in protest over what he considers the organization’s corrupt embrace of the (in his view) bogus science of global warming.
It’s a hard letter. First, he claims the science of global warming is baloney. From the letter:
The giants no longer walk the earth, and the money flood has become the raison d’être of much physics research, the vital sustenance of much more, and it provides the support for untold numbers of professional jobs. For reasons that will soon become clear my former pride at being an APS Fellow all these years has been turned into shame, and I am forced, with no pleasure at all, to offer you my resignation from the Society.
It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. Anyone who has the faintest doubt that this is so should force himself to read the ClimateGate documents, which lay it bare. (Montford’s book organizes the facts very well.) I don’t believe that any real physicist, nay scientist, can read that stuff without revulsion. I would almost make that revulsion a definition of the word scientist.
Then, he claims that proper redress procedures are being circumvented within the professional organization, in other words, a stacked deck:
So a few of us tried to bring science into the act (that is, after all, the alleged and historic purpose of APS), and collected the necessary 200+ signatures to bring to the Council a proposal for a Topical Group on Climate Science, thinking that open discussion of the scientific issues, in the best tradition of physics, would be beneficial to all, and also a contribution to the nation. I might note that it was not easy to collect the signatures, since you denied us the use of the APS membership list. We conformed in every way with the requirements of the APS Constitution, and described in great detail what we had in mind—simply to bring the subject into the open.
5. To our amazement, Constitution be damned, you declined to accept our petition, but instead used your own control of the mailing list to run a poll on the members’ interest in a TG on Climate and the Environment. You did ask the members if they would sign a petition to form a TG on your yet-to-be-defined subject, but provided no petition, and got lots of affirmative responses. (If you had asked about sex you would have gotten more expressions of interest.) There was of course no such petition or proposal, and you have now dropped the Environment part, so the whole matter is moot. (Any lawyer will tell you that you cannot collect signatures on a vague petition, and then fill in whatever you like.) The entire purpose of this exercise was to avoid your constitutional responsibility to take our petition to the Council.
6. As of now you have formed still another secret and stacked committee to organize your own TG, simply ignoring our lawful petition. APS management has gamed the problem from the beginning, to suppress serious conversation about the merits of the climate change claims. Do you wonder that I have lost confidence in the organization?
I have no way of knowing whether it is true, but my inclination is to believe it. I have seen too much crass politicization of science in this issue, and in particular, the stem cell debates, not to. There is too much money at stake, too much clique suppression of dissent. Too much easy castigation of those with different views. Too much wanting to be in the “in crowd,” to not worry that something is badly amiss. That’s Lewis’s opinion too:
Some have held that the physicists of today are not as smart as they used to be, but I don’t think that is an issue. I think it is the money, exactly what Eisenhower warned about a half-century ago. There are indeed trillions of dollars involved, to say nothing of the fame and glory (and frequent trips to exotic islands) that go with being a member of the club. Your own Physics Department (of which you are chairman) would lose millions a year if the global warming bubble burst. When Penn State absolved Mike Mann of wrongdoing, and the University of East Anglia did the same for Phil Jones, they cannot have been unaware of the financial penalty for doing otherwise. As the old saying goes, you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
Finally, Lewis says:
I want no part of it, so please accept my resignation. APS no longer represents me, but I hope we are still friends.
Hal
Yea, good luck with that. We are in nasty times in which political disagreements break friendships.
In any event, Lewis’s letter is just one more bit of evidence that the global warming hysterics can no longer effectively stifle dissent. The lid is off the pressure cooker and the soup is boiling over.
October 10th, 2010 | 1:49 am
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October 10th, 2010 | 1:52 am
[...] Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)While some claim global warming to be a fact, I can't help notice that there are some very notable scientists with a profoundly heterodox points of view. …US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful …Telegraph.co.uk (blog)Top American Scientist Quits APS over 'Global Warming Scam'Suite101.comAnother Scathing Indictment of Climate ChangeCanada Free Pressall 8 news articles » [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 2:12 am
[...] post: Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie Fight » Secondhand Smoke … This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged california, climate-change, emeritus, [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 2:45 am
[...] Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)While some claim global warming to be a fact, I can't help notice that there are some very notable scientists with a profoundly heterodox points of view. …US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful …Telegraph.co.uk (blog)Top American Scientist Quits APS over 'Global Warming Scam'Suite101.comAnother Scathing Indictment of Climate ChangeCanada Free Pressall 8 news articles » [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 3:16 am
[...] Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)While some claim global warming to be a fact, I can't help notice that there are some very notable scientists with a profoundly heterodox points of view. …US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful …Telegraph.co.uk (blog)Top American Scientist Quits APS over 'Global Warming Scam'Suite101.comAnother Scathing Indictment of Climate ChangeCanada Free Pressall 8 news articles » [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 9:40 am
It’s a sad day for science when a brilliant Physicist such as Hal Lewis’s is forced by disgust out of a society he helped found. But then again, all days are bad days for science as long as the Global Warming hoax continues.
October 10th, 2010 | 12:28 pm
This reminds me of that part in the Eisenhower’s famous Military Industrial Complex speech – the part that is much more rarely quoted:
“… In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity …
The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present …
* … and is gravely to be regarded.*
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system …”
October 10th, 2010 | 12:40 pm
[...] American Physical Society over "global warming corruption" has been making rounds …Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 1:08 pm
[...] American Physical Society over "global warming corruption" has been making rounds …Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 1:16 pm
[...] American Physical Society over "global warming corruption" has been making rounds …Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 2:02 pm
Astronomers can’t decide whether or not Pluto is a planet. Medicine is too lazy and greedy and stupid not to experiment on animals and to realize that vivisection is incompatible with medical ethics and is at the base of the culture of death. Somewhere along the line society gave “science” a lot more credit than it deserves.
October 10th, 2010 | 2:46 pm
I am one of the members of the APS who petitioned the society opposing the APS statement on climate change. The proposed alternate statement by Dr. Lewis and his cosigners seemed to me to go too far in the other direction. In the July 2009 issue of the APS journal Physics and Society, I published a letter critical of the APS position and a proposed alternate statement. A link to it is below for anyone interested.
http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/200907/letters.cfm
October 10th, 2010 | 2:50 pm
Mark Randa: Are you the same Mark Randa who wrote: “A word of advice to all. Do not accept anything or anyone painted green. These days it is more often an indicator of a scam, a cult (violent or otherwise), brainless corporate greenwashing, or all of the above.”
October 10th, 2010 | 8:36 pm
[...] Lewis gave up his cushy job and …Physicists with pitchforksSan Francisco Chronicle (blog)Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful [...]
October 10th, 2010 | 10:14 pm
It was easy from the very beginning, I forget–5 to 10 years ago–to recognize the idea that immediate and drastic action was needed to “solve” “global warming” was a scam. One of the reasons (there are a number of others, of course) that it was easy to see this, was the accumulation over several decades of story after story of envioronmental scams, misstatements, and hysterical press reports on various “scientific” findings about supposed environmental crises. It betrayed an alarming tendency for the enviro-enthusiasts to say anything at all, whether true or not, to forstall any perceived environmental impact by humans.
The press remains mostly credulous, and a diminishing number of citizens as well, but this group has cried “wolf” too many times–it would appear that the jig is up.
October 10th, 2010 | 10:25 pm
How come these folks ignore ocean chemistry?!
Well, so happens because of the massive amounts of extra carbon being released has been absorbed by the oceans partly, causing the ph levels to become more acidic!
30% more so since the industrial age began!
This threatens sea life with hard shells!
Even if this were the ONLY change caused by buning fossil fuels, it would be enough to curtail their use.
October 10th, 2010 | 11:00 pm
[...] Lewis gave up his cushy job and …Physicists with pitchforksSan Francisco Chronicle (blog)Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 6:10 am
HistoryWriter: Yes. Is there a point to this?
October 11th, 2010 | 7:12 am
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October 11th, 2010 | 9:26 am
Well, a pie fight sounds fun. The hysteria and debate (or lack of debate) is another thing altogether.
October 11th, 2010 | 10:00 am
[...] off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesPhysicists with pitchforksSan Francisco Chronicle (blog)Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)Telegraph.co.uk (blog) -Suite101.com -Canada Free Pressall 21 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 10:31 am
[...] off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesPhysicists with pitchforksSan Francisco Chronicle (blog)Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)Telegraph.co.uk (blog) -Suite101.com -Canada Free Pressall 22 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 11:03 am
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 23 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 11:10 am
[...] off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesPhysicists with pitchforksSan Francisco Chronicle (blog)Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists' Pie FightFirst Things (blog)Telegraph.co.uk (blog) -Suite101.com -Canada Free Pressall 22 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 12:10 pm
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 24 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 12:47 pm
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 24 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 6:44 pm
[...] Star-Ledger – NJ.com (blog)The Brilliant Stories -San Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog)all 28 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 7:07 pm
[...] Star-Ledger – NJ.com (blog)The Brilliant Stories -San Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog)all 28 news [...]
October 11th, 2010 | 7:50 pm
[...] Star-Ledger – NJ.com (blog)The Brilliant Stories -San Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog)all 28 news [...]
October 12th, 2010 | 4:36 am
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 33 news [...]
October 12th, 2010 | 4:57 am
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 33 news [...]
October 12th, 2010 | 5:35 am
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 34 news [...]
October 12th, 2010 | 6:10 am
[...] Lewis blows lid off Global Warming ScamThe Brilliant StoriesSan Francisco Chronicle (blog) -First Things (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk (blog)all 33 news [...]
October 12th, 2010 | 12:28 pm
[...] in the last century, and more importantly, it what should be done about it. Just the other day, a major physicist dropped out of the professional organization he helped found because of what he sa…. Even those who think the climate is warming but who are not hysterical, such as Bjorn [...]
October 13th, 2010 | 8:33 am
[...] Global Warming Hysteria: Scientists’ Pie Fight [...]
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